October, 1919 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



tion and the temperature of the colony enter 

 largely into the question. Quiet Italians 

 will never gorge themselves like excitable 

 blacks, and the melting-down of combs is 

 almost always caused by overeating. I 

 have mentioned that bees could be moved 

 under practically all conditions without sup- 

 plying water. However, if a colony of bees 

 contains a quantity of unsealed brood and is 

 to be moved a considerable distance, the 

 bees must have water in order to keep the 

 brood alive. Mr. Lusher 's colonies undoubt- 

 edly had a considerable amount of unsealed 

 brood, and, as he said in his article, were 

 moved at sundown. At that time the water- 

 gatherers had provided sufficient water until 

 morning, and, if the bees did not arrive too 

 late at their destination the following day, 

 the larv« were saved. Too few migratory 

 beekeepers pay enough attention to unseal- 

 ed brood. It will almost always be noticed 

 that bees, after having traveled most of 

 the night and not liberated before nine or 

 ten o 'clock the following morning, will send 

 out searchers for water with the least pos- 

 sible delay. If you want to be sure to save 

 j^our larvge, give your bees a little water at 

 sunup. 



Bee weather favored us during August, 

 and most of us will now get from a half to 

 three-quarters of a crop. The nectar sources 

 during the month were principally alfalfa 

 and aphid honey along the rivers. At this 

 writing (Sept. 5) the alfalfa is tapering off, 

 but the river honey continues to come in. 

 Blue curls is yielding, but as yet alkali weed 

 and jackass clover have failed to secrete 

 much nectar. M. C. Eichter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



* * * 



T_ Oriforir* The Ontario beekeepers 



in wntano. ^.^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^^^^ 



meeting in Toronto on Nov. 11, 12, and 13, 

 according to present intentions. These dates 

 are earlier than for the past few years and 

 are so arranged to give visitors to the con- 

 vention an opportunity of also taking in the 

 Horticultural Show which will be held Nov. 

 10-15, if I have the dates correct. The di- 

 rectors confidently expect th§ Show in No- 

 vember will eclipse all former exhibits both 

 in the matter of exhibits and attendance as 

 well. 



August has been quite cool thruout the 

 whole month with the exception of two or 

 three days, and cool weather in August in- 

 variably means a light crop of buckwheat 

 honey. However, we are thankful for at 

 least enough buckwheat honey to make the 

 brood-nests quite heavy in most cases and 

 to provide funds to buy sugar for those still 

 short of stores. At one yard where we have 

 no buckwheat within reach of the bees, 

 starvation has threatened some of the colo- 

 nies; and I understand this condition has 

 been quite general in some of the western 



counties where clover failed and no buck- 

 wheat is grown. The longer I keep bees, 

 more than ever am I convinced that the best 

 locations in Ontario are the comparatively 

 few places where both alsike clover and 

 buckwheat are grown in abundance. I am 

 free to admit that very often the localities 

 where no buckwheat is grown produce a 

 finer sample of clover honey than is possi- 

 ble in buckwheat districts; yet the prices 

 of the slightly better honey are not high 

 enough to make up for the lack in August 

 of buckwheat, which would have made the 

 brood-nests heavy and often would have 

 yielded a good surplus as well. 



In this locality buckwheat and goldenrod 

 bloom much earlier than in places farther 

 south. Mr. Sladen of Ottawa finds that 

 goldenrod in the Gatineau district north of 

 Ottawa blooms earlier than at Ottawa. Why 

 this difference is hard to understand as the 

 clovers, basswood, and other honey-produc- 

 ing flora almost without exception bloom 

 earlier in the south than in the north. 



As far as I can learn, comparatively little 

 honey has yet been marketed here in On- 

 tario to date, Sept. 9. Dealers seem to be 

 holding out for lower prices than the jjro- 

 ducers are asking, and time will tell how 

 the game will end. In the meantime quite 

 a lot of honey is being sold to beekeepers 

 in localities where the crop failed. 



That the crop is ' ' patchy ' ' in Ontario is 

 an accepted fact. One Eastern man writes, 

 "best crop ever, 170 per colony from clover, 

 and sample excellent. ' ' As we have had 

 some of this honej^ I can vouch for its being 

 "excellent." A Western man writes 

 "poorest crop in 30 years." A number of 

 these latter reports, common in Ontario this 

 year, should be given to throw a real light 

 upon ' ' Beekeeping in Ontario, " as so ex- 

 travagantly represented on page 572 in Sep- 

 tember Gleanings. By the way, I wish to 

 say that I was amazed to read some of the 

 statements of the writer of the article in 

 question, especially where he says there is 

 little disease in Ontario. The clause reads, 

 ' ' Disease has not as yet been very active 

 in Ontario, altho in the southern part a few 

 traces of American foul brood are evi- 

 dent. " I do not know the writer of the 

 article but I respectfully submit that he 

 knows little of what he is writing about, so 

 far as disease is concerned, when he ex- 

 presses an opinion like that. I suggest that 

 he visit the Provincial Apiarist at Guelph 

 and get information on this subject, and 

 have a look over the map in the office show- 

 ing hundreds of blue- and red-headed pins 

 where disease is prevalent. Unfortunately 

 both European and American foul brood are 

 present in many parts of Ontario, much as 

 we regret the fact, and there is no use of 

 disguising what we know to be true. Brood 

 diseases are as much a menace as ever here 



